Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 713 - 323. Whistling of the Stars

Chapter 713: 323. Whistling of the Stars

Whoosh!

A bloodstain spread across Nephis’s neck, and immediately after, the collar that had been embedded in her skin fell off, clattering to the ground.

Thud.

Li Aozi stepped forward on his tiptoes and said indifferently,

"You are free now."

Nephis looked up as Li Aozi removed the healing inhibition from her, her neck wound rapidly healed, and her flesh began to regenerate. Her retinas gradually regained focus, and looking at Li Aozi, she hesitated before asking,

"...Why didn’t you kill me?"

"Why should I? To me, you bear no grudge against me."

Li Aozi sheathed his deep red blade, appearing rather puzzled as he asked.

"I once, as Gabros, killed countless people, destroyed several planets..."

Nephis thought for a moment and said,

"I am actually deep in sin..."

"You said it yourself, the murderer was Gabros, the product." Li Aozi shrugged, "Besides, did you ever feel guilty?"

Nephis raised her hand, looking at her blood-soaked palm, murmuring,

"No."

"I once took countless lives with this hand, as a corporate war machine, bearing the sins of destruction and slaughter... But now, I still want to live."

"It’s good that you can recognize your sins, it means you still have some conscience, knowing that ’murder’ is wrong," said Li Aozi lightly, "If you hadn’t realized your past wrongdoings, I would have crushed you into mincemeat and sealed you in two-dimensional space, never to be redeemed between the states of life and death."

"...You decided to forgive me?" Nephis frowned, puzzled.

"Of course. I have that capability, since I can kill you anytime I want."

Li Aozi said frankly,

"In pursuit of my objectives, I might have killed as many innocent civilians as you have. But the reason I forgive you isn’t that I forgave your crimes, but because: you now feel fear, unease, and your conscience is troubled — this shows you’ve developed a personality. That means, you won’t be controlled by the company anymore.""...And one more thing."

Nephis looked into Li Aozi’s gray eyes, which were very calm.

Not the calmness of superiority, but as one views an ordinary mortal who poses no threat.

She opened her mouth and asked her final question:

"Leoz, I don’t understand, why did you choose to grant me freedom?"

"I was once Gabros, with outstanding combat abilities, and in your current situation, you would definitely need a Zeta Rank (6) warrior to join your ranks."

"From a maximizing benefits perspective, you should have enslaved me, turned me into a subordinate or a combat machine."

"I’m not a capitalist; I don’t need others to sustain my life."

Li Aozi with his hands in his pockets, looking completely natural,

"I have no intention of imprisoning anyone’s freedom, as you can see—with my strength, even Narrative-Level Civilizations can’t do much to me now."

"But your planet..."

"That’s not my stronghold, I’m not that concerned about it."

Li Aozi glanced in the direction of Baizhu Star, offhandedly saying,

"A place like Baizhu Star doesn’t matter to me, it’s inconsequential even if it’s destroyed."

[You carried out an act of lying and are currently undergoing a Charm Attributes check...]

[Specialty · "Unilateral Action" activated!]

[Charm Check passed, the other party believed your lie]

"So that’s how it is."

Nephis nodded, Li Aozi’s lofty and indifferent attitude didn’t seem feigned, and the divinity naturally emanating from him suggested he had delved deep into divinity.

——The group shouldn’t have meddled with Leoz...

Nephis thought.

——Leoz has no weak points, Leoz is an Ascender devoid of human warmth, trying to threaten him with hostages is meaningless.

However... it was no longer necessary to report this information to the group.

Nephis stood under the starlight, yet her mood did not change.

Even having killed Nariya, she felt no relief because she didn’t have those emotions at all; her body’s hormone-producing organs had been treated long ago.

She looked like a humanoid creature, but inside, she had long become a biochemical monster.

"Freedom..."

Nephis murmured:

"I have never, never experienced such a thing."

She lowered her head, spread her hands, unsure of what to do, and simply stood there, pouring her heart out to Li Aozi:

"...When I was very small, maybe four or three years old, I was carried away from my tribe. The elder took the corporation’s money, handed me a stick, and told me to participate in fights."

"I seemed to be thrown into a dark cave, and then, to fight for a piece of bread, I had to battle Tomak man-eating worms, fork-horned spirit deer, electric birds, my younger brother, my older brother... In the end, my sister and I survived."

Li Aozi was somewhat surprised; Nephis in his previous life had no story background, she was only popularized by players because of her extreme strength and template.

Once the version was updated, her fame was immediately overshadowed by new bosses and levels, and nobody dug into her identity background anymore.

Now, Nephis was recounting her origins in her own words.

"...My sister and I, the two of us, always fighting, in order to survive, we learned a variety of skills, climbing pathways, piloting spacecraft, seizing weapons, assassination, demolition, interrogation, counter-interrogation, infiltration."

"We lived in a large cage, like a beehive, crammed with children selected from remote planets. The corporation arranged us like an assembly line, coolly and calmly selecting, training, and transforming us into warriors, and then sending us off to participate in various battles, slaughtering civilians..."

"For a long time, we were not referred to by names but were called ’Gabros.’"

"In the Dragon Language, this word means ’executioner.’"

Nephis said emotionlessly:

"We had our bodies altered, glands removed to lose vulnerabilities and emotions, then had nanomachines implanted to control our thoughts. If we disobeyed or developed a sense of autonomy, we would be electrocuted—our body’s cells would instantly release electric currents, causing every inch of muscle to lose control."

"I once personally witnessed a Gabros, because his thinking had deviated, continuous electrocution for tens of hours, his muscles completely slackened and necrotized, and he eventually drowned in his own excretions."

"My sister and I... actually, I can no longer recall her appearance or her name. I only remember, once during a loyalty modification session to test my fidelity, I was ordered to fight her."

"She didn’t beg for mercy; in her eyes, I could see that she had the same cold expression as myself—then I raised my hand, twisted her neck, the inspecting leader laughed out loud, applauded appreciatively, and ordered me to dispose of the body, making me personally sink her into a pool of Dissociation Liquid, and afterwards, to strip the silver armor from her body."

"Wait—"

Li Aozi was taken aback and immediately realized something:

"...Have you been wearing her armor ever since?"

"Yes." Nephis said impassively, "As a demonstration of my loyalty, the overseer had me wear the armor of the sister I had personally killed and gave me a nickname."

"—Silver Scion."